Jack Kiser Is Ready For One Final Year At Notre Dame

By the time Jack Kiser’s Notre Dame football career ends he may be ready to start drawing social security. The Fighting Irish linebacker played his 54th career game in five seasons when he and his teammates beat Oregon State in the Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl. That won’t be the end of Kiser’s career though, because he has already announced he will return for a sixth season in 2024.

"There's a lot of factors and I had a lot of conversations,” Kiser recently said when asked about his decision to use his sixth year. "Trying to pick out people that I felt, had my best interest in kind of knew the environment I was operating in and making a decision on, and I think ultimately I got some advice that they were saying, like, if you feel there's anything left that you haven't accomplished, or anything left that still needs to be done at Notre Dame. It’s like there's no wrong decision, but coming back to Notre Dame is obviously not a bad decision. .... I think I can still become a better football player. I think that this team can do something really special, and I want to be a part of it, and so that's kind of, ultimately what led to my decision.”

Kiser finished the season with a career-high 62 tackles, which was third on the Irish defense, trailing only linebacker JD Bertrand (76) and defensive tackle Howard Cross III (66). The Sun Bowl was his final game playing alongside Bertrand, who chose not to take advantage of his sixth season opportunity.

Kiser will have the luxury of playing behind defensive linemen Cross and Rylie Mills though in 2024. Both have announced their return as well, but neither of those decisions factored into Kiser’s own choice to play one more season.

"It wasn’t a big part of my decision but realistically, who’s going to line up in front of me, who’s going to line up besides me, and who’s going to make the calls on the back end,” Kiser explained. "That's a big deal. Because when you play on a great defense, it allows you to be a better football player as well. So it's important, but at the same time, like I wasn't gonna base my decision on what Howie and Rylie did. When I made my decision, and then I saw that Howard Cross confirmed he's coming back, Riley's coming back, that’s a big deal.

"There's a lot of excitement behind that and realizing that you'll have another year with the guys that you've been here for so long with. Because you know, there is a time where you're thinking alright, ‘If I come back next year, like JD is leaving Marist (Liufau) is leaving, Cam (Hart) is leaving, like who's going to be left? Who am I going to hang out with that are older guys?’”

Kiser’s return and the departures of Bertrand and Liufau means he becomes the most experienced linebacker and leader in a room stocked with young talent.

"(Jaylen) Sneed has really good athleticism,” Kiser appraised. “Our goal is to find one-on-one matchups for him to go win. The freshmen, what’s stuck out is their ability to be coached and to learn. We’re headed into bowl prep and they’ve developed so much since fall camp, it’s unbelievable. Drayk Bowen is able to go on the field and run the defense. (Jaiden) Ausberry and (Preston) Zinter can come in and run a role and do a job and communicate with other people, whereas in fall camp, you didn’t know what was going to happen with other people out there. They’ve come so far. They’re still young kids. They’re still 18 years-old, but to realize they have another spring, another summer, and another fall camp before they have a shot to go show the world what they can do. So it’s very exciting.”

The Royal Center, Ind native grew up just over an hour from Notre Dame’s campus. He helped Pioneer High School win consecutive state championships before joining the Irish in 2019. When it came time to decide on his future, it was Notre Dame or nothing if he was going to use his sixth and final season of college eligibility.

"When you talk to people that have done that it’s just another stepping stone,” Kiser said of the prospect of using a graduate transfer somewhere else. “For me that was never in the cards. I can’t really see myself at another school taking different classes in a different weight room that isn’t Notre Dame. Maybe that’s the kind of person I am, but I do understand when guys transfer out for their last year, they’re trying to get playing time and they’re trying to do what’s best for them and make their next step something to catapult off of. But for me, it wasn’t in the cards. It was either moving on or staying here.”

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